Nebraskaland

July 2025 • Nebraskaland 47 All that said, block ice isn't always the best way to go. "Let's say you put your beer in the cooler, but the beer was not initially cold. Crushed ice would be an advantage because it will cool it faster," Binek said. "But if your beer was cold and your goal is to keep it cold longer, then it might be a good idea to go with a solid block." To Drain or Not to Drain? So what about the water that begins to pool in the bottom of the cooler as the ice melts? I've read or heard both sides of the cooler soup story. "Water, as you say in the language of thermodynamics, has a high heat capacity," Binek says, adding that property is what makes it an ideal fi re extinguisher. Water can also take on three forms, depending on the temperature: solid, liquid and vapor. During the transition between those phases, the temperature does not change. "Let's say you have ice, and that ice is pretty much at 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you feed in heat, and the ice starts to melt. Until the last piece of ice is gone the temperature hasn't changed a bit, not at all. It always stays at 32 Fahrenheit. "Basically, if you drain it out, you waste that potential to keep stuff cool." So leave the water unless you have a ready source of ice. A cooler holding a sandwich or other food, however, is another story. "It's just nasty to have water fl oating around and making things soggy," Binek says. Dead Air? Another popular theory is that fi lling the airspace in a cooler increases ice retention. In reality, air is the second- best insulator there is, trailing only a vacuum, Binek says. It is actually what makes the insulation we use in our homes, and coolers, work, not the materials those insulations are made with. "Air has little material, so it has a tendency not to transfer heat very well," Binek says. "Now, what makes air bad for your cooler is simply when you open and close your cooler and the air escapes, or a large fraction of it will, and you exchange the cold air with air from the outside. That, of course, is bad because you bring in heat." Filling pockets to limit that exchange has value, Binek said, as does keeping the cooler closed. "Practically speaking, what's the good of the cooler if you cannot open it?" Super Coolers? High-dollar, thick-walled coolers, some seeming to weigh as much as the beverages you could fi ll them with, have been the rage for some time now. Are they worth it? That depends, Binek said. "Let's say you go fi shing in a more remote area, and you are off the grid and off access to ice or whatever for multiple days. Then, it is a very valid investment," he said. "You can keep your beer literally passively cold for multiple days, up to a week, if you have a very expensive cooler. But if you're just sitting at a lake for a couple of hours, then it's overkill." For now, Binek, a native of Germany, keeps his trips to the lake simple, his small, standard-issue cooler fi lled with cubed ice and a few beers he can sip while waiting for a catfi sh to bite. "Contrary to a far-reaching myth, Germans do not drink warm beer," he said. "And honestly, I have the impression that if you don't have a beer, they just don't want to bite. I don't know why that is. Maybe you are more relaxed then, and somehow it goes through the rod and through the bobber. Or maybe it's the hops that gives you more patience, because fi shing can have something to do with patience." Either way, he doesn't need a super cooler. "My beer is usually gone before it has a chance to get warm." Ice and Coolers Here are some tips for making ice and making it last longer. • When making block ice, know that thin plastic containers can crack as water freezes and expands. But don't use your wife's best Rubbermaid to make block ice, as it can damage the inner coating. • Throw what's left of your block ice back in the freezer when you get back from a trip to use on the next one. • If you will be far from an ice vendor and have cargo space, fill a quality cooler with block ice you can transfer to other coolers as needed. • Keep your cooler out of the sun and your ice will last much longer. • Precool everything in the refrigerator before you put them in the cooler. Freeze some of your water bottles and use them as ice. They will be partly thawed by the time you need them. • If you store your cooler in a hot garage, bring it inside the day before your trip and it won't eat some of your ice when you fill it. • Coolers are just as good at carrying empty bottles and cans home as they are at carrying full ones to the lake. Leave no trace. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND

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